As you may have noticed, a large part of my job is asking people for things. Another big part is telling people why giving things is important by explaining exactly what we do and who we help and this week the results have been particularly excellent.
Our community is strong, and it’s growing.
I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to the Connect group at Kings Church in Chessington on Monday, the staff and pupils of Christ Church Primary in Surbiton on Tuesday, the brilliant people of Corpus Christi Primary on Wednesday as well as our good friends from All Saints Church in Kingston, all of whom gave very generously at their Harvest Festivals.
Our shelves and cupboards are bulging with food and emergency supplies which we will gladly distribute over the coming colder months. And thanks to the genius of one of our volunteers, who suggested people tape a pound to their donation, we have raised nearly £350, funding enough frontline support hours to help someone off the street.
350 people came together, giving just a single pound, to end homelessness for someone, and that’s a community I’m so proud to be a part of.
Furthermore, people are still signing up to join the Big Sleep Out. We are up to 12 people on site this Saturday night and their fundraising efforts are incredible, visit: https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/peer-to-peer/the-big-sleep-out–2026 to support them as they spend a night outdoors.
Alternatively, and it would be great to get to 15 or even 20 legends, sign up yourself at: https://kcah.org.uk/big-sleep-out-registration/
The final bit of exciting community news is that we have connected with a musical director who is going to work with us on our December event titled “Voices Together”. I am very much looking forward to meeting them tomorrow to discuss the programme! I will be telling you all about that very soon.
We are a wonderful community and I feel truly blessed to be here with you as we work towards our vision that “Everyone in Kingston is in a safe and stable home and is able to build a happy life”.
Thank you for being part of that journey.